The Summons
by TheDevilChrno
Summary: When she tries summoning a demon Rosette gets more than she bargained for...AU RosetteXChrno
1. Chapter 1

The Summons **CH 1. The Arrival**

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" worried Claire "I don't think we should be doing this..."

"Oh come on Claire!" scoffed Rosette Christopher "Where's your sense of adventure?"

Mary chuckled nervously. "I think I left mine at home...I should go and get it!" The girl turned to leave but not before their other friend Anna grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Oh no you don't! If I have to be here so do you!"

"All right guys...quiet...I need to go over this again..." Rosette plopped down on the damp grass and ran a flashlight over the large leatherbound volume she'd been carrying. "Okay...Claire...light the candles okay?...and Mary...finish drawing the circle...and Anna...you can light the incense."

"I can't believe we're doing this..." muttered Anna as she finished drawing the faint chalk outline onto the hardened ground. "Trying to summon a demon! This is the most bizarre slumber party I've ever been to..."

Rosette snorted. "Oh come on, it's not like it's REAL or anything..it's just for fun! Joshua's tried this before with his friends and nothing bad happened."

Anna lit the last of the incense and shook the lit matchstick until it went out. "Well, if it's not going to work we should just go back in! We could watch a movie or something..."

Claire nodded. "I agree..let's stop okay? I have a bad feeling..."

"Oh come on! Let's just do it once and then we can go in...I promise!" Rosette placed her right hand over her heart and tried to look as sincere as possible. "Besides..it says here..if you do manage to summon one..that the demon is bound to you and has to grant you your heart's desire...it grants wishes!"

Mary rolled her eyes "Then if we succeed I'm gonna wish we were inside where it's warm" She stood up and brushed the chalk off her hands on the sides of her pants. "All right...this is done. Let's get this over with okay? It looks like it's gonna rain soon..."

Rosette proceeded to arrange all in a small circle beside the outside of the "magic circle" as she called it. Surrounded by candles and the incence it actually did radiate a sort of mysticism about it. As much as she laughed it off, a part of Rosette actually hoped it would work. _"I wish I could find my soul mate"_ she thought to herself. Ever since their parents passed away it was just Rosette and Joshua. Oh sure, they stayed with their aunt and uncle but they were away so often on business that it might as well just be them on their own. Joshua was good company but Rosette wanted something more in her life. Here she was, a senior in high school and had never even had a boyfriend or even a first kiss.

"All right...everyone close their eyes and concentrate okay?" Rosette ordered. "Let's see...how did it go...?"

I**_ summon thee o' devil of hell I summon thee to grant my hearts desire..._**

The wind suddenly began to pick up, the candles flickered. Rosette continued:

**_I summon thee o' devil of hell I bind you to mineself_**

Thunder rumbled. Someone let out a whimper of fright

**_I summon thee o' devil of hell I evoke thine presence!_**

Suddenly without warning, lightning crashed right into the circle behind the four girls. Rosette's eyes flew open right as a shrieking Claire took off running. "I'm going home!!"

"Claire! Wait!" Mary took off after her with Anna in hot pursuit.

Rosette's eyes were momentarily dazzled by the brightness of the lightning flash. "Guys! Wait for me!" Stupid lightning! Seeing colored spots float across her vision,she blinked hard, shook her head and looked over towards the circle.

There was something sprawled there.

Rosette gasped and bit her bottom lip.

"Oh god...did it work? please please let this just be a joke..."

She approached very slowly. The figure didn't look menacing at all. In fact, it looked rather...small. Noticing the dropped flashlight she stopped and picked it up and flicked it on. The dim beam fell on a figure with a long purple cloak draped over top of it.

She swallowed hard. "Um...excuse me?"

Nothing.

Rosette crept closer until she could get a better view of the figure. She was surprised to discover what she'd taken to be a cloak was actually the figures hair spread out behind it. It was clothed in a rough looking brown poncho. Her? Him? She circled around cautiously to get a better look.

He.

The figure was a boy.

A very cute boy.

Who was starting to wake up.

_Ohhhh crap._

The figure groaned softly and a look of pain flashed across the young face.

Rosette felt a momentary pang of guilt. Had she hurt him somehow? She'd never wanted to hurt anything. Much as she was loathe to admit it, she had a tender heart and hated seeing anything in pain. As afraid as she was she decided she had to do something. She crouched down near the figure hesitantly.

"Um...are you okay?"

The boy slowly and painfully sat up, long violet bangs falling forward in front of his face. His voice was very soft and he whispered "I-I think so..."

Rosette breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's good at least."

The boy shook his head to clear it and pushed the bangs away from his face, tucked them behind a pointed ear (?) and looked up at her and Rosette was startled to discover his eyes were a dark crimson color with slit pupils. "Like a cat" she thought.  
He tilted his head in puzzlement. "Who are you?"

Rosette sat back on her heels. "I'm Rosette...who are you?"

The boy spoke and his voice seemed to gain in strength. "My name...is Chrno." He looked right into her eyes. "Now...Rosette...let me ask you something..." He leaned towards her slightly.

"_How did I get here_?"

Like? Hate? Too simplistic in writing style? I can be much more descriptive and elaborate more if need be.


	2. SoWhat Can You Do?

**The Summons CH.2 So What Can You Do?**

Rosette shook her head and swallowed hard. "Ummm...well...I-I think I summoned you..."

Chrno grimaced as he put a hand to his forehead. "I figured as much...I feel like I've been put through a wringer.."

Rosette was starting to feel terrible. How was she to know that getting summoned was actually painful? And the one she summoned sure didn't look very strong. In fact, he looked no more than a year or two younger than her. "I'm sorry...Um...So...you're really a demon?"

Chrno sat back on his heels and looked right at her and pointedly rolled his eyes. "Well I'm not the Easter Bunny that's for sure."

Any sympathy she might have had suddenly flew out the window and Rosette scowled. "Well excuuuuse me for never having seen a demon before! I figured you'd be..." She looked him up and down and was surprised to see that she seemed to be making him uncomfortable by doing so. She started snickering.

Chrno tilted his head. "Be what?"

By now Rosette was laughing even harder. "I thought you'd be...you know..." She made a motion of flexing her arms like a body builder "Bigger!"

Now it was Chrno's turn to scowl. "This ISN'T my true form! I AM bigger!"

"If you say so!" Rosette chortled.

"I am! My true form takes too much energy to maintain on this plane. If I remained in it, I'd grow weak." Chrno crossed his arms and scowled deeper and muttered. "Don't tell ME I don't know what I really look like!"

Rosette sensed wounded male pride and sighed. "All right all right I believe you." She sat down on the grass and crossed her legs. "So...now what?"

Chrno stared at her. "What do you mean "now what?"

Rosette glared. "I mean, so what happens now? Do you grant wishes or what?"

Chrno stared. "You're kidding right? I'm a DEMON. Not a genie! We don't grant wishes!"

"But the book said..."

Chrno sighed into his bangs making them puff up momentarily. "What are you going to believe? Some moldy old book or an actual demon? I repeat, We. Don't. Grant. Wishes. It's not that simple."

"So what DO you do then?" Rosette asked in exasperation. "Surely you have SOME kind of powers."

Chrno nodded. "Of course I do. I can't just suddenly make things happen though. I'm not omnipotent or anything." He crossed his legs and sat back. "A demon that's bound to a human kind of...acts like a partner. If there's something the human wants..the demon uses it's powers to help them achieve it. It's usually referred to as "contracting". Once the human gets what it wants, the contract is dissolved and the demon is set free. If the demon refuses to obey the human or doesn't achieve what the human wants..." Chrno paused and Rosette could have sworn she saw a flicker of fear cross his face. "Well, let's just say it's not pretty for the demon." Chrno peered up through his bangs and regarded Rosette with curiousity. "What did you ask for anyways?"

Rosette fidgeted. "Um...just..for my soul mate."

A look of shock crossed his youthful face and with a groan, Chrno buried his face in his hands. "Oh god...why me?"

"I don't see what the big deal is.." said Rosette crossly. "It's not like I actually expected this to work or anything."

Chrno glared at her. "But it DID work...and now that I'm here, I can't go back until you get what you asked for. And oh no, you couldn't have just asked for money or a puppy or something else...YOU had to ask for the impossible."

"It's not impossible!" cried Rosette " Soul mates exist..I know they do!"

Chrno was a bit taken aback by the intensity of her words but he quickly recovered and sighed. "Yes they do exist...it's just that it's really rare to ever actually find your soul mate. A human can go their entire life and never find them."

The magnitude of what Chrno was saying started to sink in slowly.

"...so, what you're saying is...you could be here a while huh?"

"Oh, I guess you could say that." said Chrno sarcastically.

Rosette glared. "No need to be all mean about it!" She bit the bottom of her lip. "Oh man, what am I going to do with you? We live with our aunt and uncle..they're not home a lot but I'll still have to explain why you're here..."

Chrno looked at her dumbfounded. "You mean you didn't plan this at ALL?"

"I told you! I didn't expect it to actually WORK! I thought there was no such thing as magic!"

Chrno raised an eyebrow. "Of course there's magic...people practice it all the time..."

Rosette shook her head. "Nope..not anymore..that was like, in ancient times. Well, unless you count the New Age stuff that floats around.."

He blinked in surprise. "What year is it anyways?"

Now it was Rosette's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You don't know? It's 2007"

Chrno's eyes went wide. "Are you serious? Wow..."

She stared off thoughtfully. "I guess I could say you were an exchange student and that I volunteered for us to house you...but that means we'd have to get you registered for school too..."

Chrno stayed quiet and didn't say anything. The discovery that a hundred years had passed since he'd last been on Earth left him feeling a bit disconcerted.

Rosette stood up and dusted herself off. "Well, I guess you'd better come with me...we can get you settled in for the weekend and I'll see about everything else." A look of glee suddenly crossed her face. "Oh wow...wait til Joshua sees this...he's gonna be so jealous!"

Chrno stood up and followed Rosette towards the lights of the suburbs. He glanced briefly heavenward and muttered "Why me huh? Am I really THAT bad of a person?" The stars twinkled innocently and Rosette was still cheerfully chattering away and thankfully, for Chrno's sake anyways, she didn't hear him.

_Authors Notes:  
Yup! I changed the meaning/how to's behind the contracting. I'm making it to where the type of contract we're all familiar with isn't neccessary. Chrno can access his demonic powers in this story without one, but it makes him weaker and really slow to recover. He just may make the traditional one with Rosette...I haven't decided yet. I've decided to give Chrno a little bit more of a snarky attitude too. Yeah, he's a nice guy and will end up being a pushover in the end, but he can't be too agreeable right?_

_ Thanks for all the reviews so far! They mean a lot!  
_


	3. Ch 3: Prove It!

The Summons CH.3: Prove it! 

After walking a few city blocks, with Chrno gawking the entire time, the unlikely twosome finally reached Rosette's house.  
Opening the door, Rosette said "The only person home is my brother Joshua, and don't worry, he can keep a secret."

"_Secret about what_?" Chrno wondered.

"I'M HOME!" Rosette yelled.

"SO WHAT?" yelled a male voice from upstairs. Rosette made a face. "Obnoxious as ever..." She raised her voice "Hey Joshua! Come down here! There's someone I want you to meet!"

Footsteps echoed through the hall and down the stairs as Joshua came down. "Sis...you KNOW I'm tired of you trying to fix me up..." he stopped short when he saw Chrno. "Oh, for the love of...I told you! I'm not gay either!"

Rosette rolled her eyes. "I know THAT..sheesh!" With a big smile, she said "Joshua...this is Chrno..." She lowered her voice and in a faux whisper added "He's a DEMON."

Joshua nodded. "Uh-huh..suuuure Rosette..if you wanted to bring a guy home you didn't have to tell ME about it..."

Both Rosette and Chrno blushed furiously. "NO! That's not it at all! He really is a demon! Anna, Mary and Claire and I tried that demon summoning spell you and your friends did."

"Right. And nothing happened when we did it."

"Well, it worked for us!" huffed Rosette.

Joshua turned an appraising eye to Chrno who in turn shuffled uncomfortably. "Awfully small for a demon isn't he?"

Rosette started snickering and Chrno sighed and finally spoke "This isn't my true form...I have to maintain this form in order to conserve energy on this plane."

Joshua smiled a little and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, you can sure talk the talk...now can you prove it?"

Chrno gave him a dirty look. "I could..but don't you think after just being summoned, a guy might be just a little tired?"

Rosette burst out laughing at the shocked look on Joshua's face. "Oh come on Joshua...look..he has purple hair. Who has purple hair?"

Joshua snorted "People who can buy hair dye in that color. Next."

Rosette bit the bottom of her lip. "Ooookaaaay...his eyes! They're red..and look at the pupils..they're like a cats."

"Contact lenses. Keep trying."

"He has pointed ears!"

"Genetic abnormality..."

By this time Chrno was sick of being discussed like he wasn't in the room. "All right all right...I'll do ONE thing."

Rosette and Joshua stopped their arguing. "Like what?" Rosette asked.

Chrno looked at Joshua. "I'll look into your soul."

Joshua paled "M-my soul?"

Chrno nodded. "Sure..I'll take a glimpse of what you have hidden in your heart."

Joshua looked uncertain. "Will it hurt?"

"No" Chrno snorted. "All I have to do is look at you. You won't feel anything."

Swallowing hard Joshua nodded slowly "All..all right."

Chrno turned to face Joshua and stared right into his eyes. Chrno's eyes shifted from their normal crimson hue to a silvery white.

Joshua shivered.

Finally Chrno looked away and his eyes returned to normal. He regarded Joshua somberly for a moment before breaking into a grin.

"So...who's Azumaria? You sure seem to think highly of her."

Rosette squealed with laughter. "I KNEW IT!"

Joshua turned red.

Chrno sagged visibly. Even using such a small amount of power wore him out.

Rosette turned to him with a concerned look on her face. "You okay?"

He nodded his head. "I'll be fine. I just...need to rest a bit."

Rosette nodded. "Of course. We have a guest room, you can stay there. Joshua, let Chrno borrow a pair of your pajamas and some clothes for tomorrow."

Joshua snapped out of his shock. "Sure..I think I've got some old stuff somewhere..." He tromped upstairs to get them.

"This way." Rosette led Chrno upstairs to the small but nicely furnished guest room. "This will be your room. Joshua will bring you stuff to wear."

On cue, Joshua entered with a small pile of clothes in his hands. "Here's some stuff I've outgrown..there's a few pairs of shorts and some shirts." He grinned. "You're on your own for underwear though."

Chrno had sat down on the bed and found it comfortable enough. "Thanks..I'l be fine...I just want to sleep..."

Rosette nodded. "All right..we'll leave you alone for the night. I'll wake you up for breakfast okay?" She paused "Do demons even eat?"

"Sure we do."

"All right...we'll see you in the morning then..c'mon Joshua." She nabbed her brothers arm and led him outside.

"Rosette, what are you going to do? We can't keep him...can we?" Joshua whispered.

She glared at him in disgust. "Don't talk about him like he's a stray puppy!"

"All right! Geez..no need to bite my head off..."

"Don't worry Joshua...I have a plan."

"Oh great. We're doomed."

She glared at him. "Shut up. It'll work. I'll fill you in on everything tomorrow." She gave a great gaping yawn. "I think I'd better head off to bed myself. 'Night Joshua."

"Night sis."

Joshua stood and watched his sister head off to her room. He gave a wan smile. "Well, at least it's never dull around here..." Chuckling to himself he headed off to bed as well.

**Author Notes**:  
_I hope I managed to convey Rosette and Joshua's brother/sister dynamic. They've always struck me as the type to tease each other mercilessly. In this story Joshua won't have any special powers but he will be on the sickly side. (you'll see in time so no trying to pry it out of me! )  
A few of you asked if Azumaria and Satella will be in here and I guess that answers some of it. Satella will make an appearance as well. As to if Chrno and Rosette will get together..well, you only need to look at the story description to get the answer to that one. I'm a lover of fluff so expect plenty of cuteness. (and sorry but I don't write lemons!)  
One of you asked if I'd read the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud and likened my writing style to that series. I'm very flattered since I actually have read that series and enjoyed it very much! Stroud's writing style made me laugh because it was an awful lot like my own sense of humor. So thank you for the kind words and I highly reccommend the Bartemaeus trilogy! Go pick it up!  
_


	4. Ch 4: Breakfast In Bed

Chapter 4. The Plan 

Rosette woke up bright and early for once. Deciding to leave her unusual guest to his sleep, she crept downstairs to start breakfast. "_What would a demon eat?_" she wondered. Finally she pulled out a package of bacon and the carton of eggs and began cooking.

Woken up by the smell, Joshua came downstairs yawning. "Mooorning sis...eggs and bacon?" He peered into the pan. "And you managed to NOT burn them! I am amazed!"

Rosette swatted him with the spatula. "Hush you! Or you can make your own!"

Joshua snickered as he got the plates and silverware out. "So...has our guest made an appearance yet?"

She shook her head. "No, he's still asleep...I was going to bring a tray up to him."

Joshua raised his eyebrows. "My my! Unburned food AND breakfast in bed? Just what DID you two do last night?"

Rosette actually whacked his hand with the spatula this time and Joshua yelped. "NOTHING! Geeze!"

Joshua shook his stinging hand. "Well, what DID happen exactly then? You just kind of gave an overview last night"  
Rosette recounted the story as she finished cooking breakfast. Joshua dished himself out a helping of breakfast and listened attentively until she finished.

"Well, so what are we going to do now?" He asked. "We can't just leave him here all the time. We have school and stuff."

Rosette nodded absently. "I know...I've thought of that. I figured we could enroll him in school as a transfer student or something. Maybe say he's the son of our aunt and uncle's friend that's come to stay with us..."

Joshua frowned. "And where would you get records for the transfer? He didn't exactly come with documentation."

Rosette grinned and tweaked Joshua's nose playfully. "That's where you come in, my oh-so-l33t brother."

"No way! I could get arrested!"

"Oh please!" Rosette scoffed. "I think the government has more to worry about then investigating every transfer student that comes along. Besides.." she smiled "What else do you have to do besides make up work hmmm?"

Joshua poked at his eggs with the fork and sighed. "All right all right...but I'll need both of you to help me out on this so we all get the story straight okay?"

"Gotcha! Thanks Joshua! I owe you one!" beamed Rosette.

Joshua got up and put his plate and fork in the dishwasher. "Hmm..I think by now you owe me several." He neatly dodged his sisters swat. "But who's counting?"

Rosette rolled her eyes and began scooping out helpings of bacon and eggs onto a plate. "I'm gonna take this up to Chrno. Then we have to go out and get him a few more sets of clothes, not to mention a school uniform." Pouring a glass of orange juice she looked thoughtful. "We'll have to watch our budget though."

"Well, I'll go through my old stuff and see what I can come up with. I know I have uniform stuff left anyways."

"All right" Rosette put the plate and glass of orange juice on a tray. Grabbing the toast out of the toaster she placed it on the plate. "I'm going up now. See you in a few."

Rosette climbed carefully up the stairs making sure not to spill the juice. "I hope he likes this." she thought to herself as she reached out and knocked on the door. "Chrno? Are you awake?"

No answer.

Shifting the tray and balancing it on her hip with one hand ,she slowly opened the door with the other hand and peeked inside.  
Chrno lay curled up in a fetal position on his side right by the edge of the bed, blanket tucked up to his chin and long violet hair spread out behind him. Rosette chuckled to herself and sat the tray down on the nightstand. "Guess he's dead to the world" she thought to herself as she stared at him smiling softly. "_He's awfully cute laying like that. You'd never guess he was a demon._" Realizing she was staring, she blushed slightly. "_I feel bad waking him up but..._" She reached out and put a gentle hand on his shoulder and shook him lightly and said softly, "Chrno?...hey Chrno...time to wake up..."

Chrno scrunched up his face and pulled the blanket over his head. "...nooo...sleep..."

Rosette chuckled "Nope! Time to get up! Come on, I even brought you breakfast. I hope you like bacon and eggs."

Chrno pulled the blanket down and sat up blinking sleepily with a scowl on his face. Rosette nearly laughed out loud at the big bad demon looking like nothing more than any other cranky teenage boy forced to get up at an ungodly hour. Instead she stifled it and said in what she hoped was an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry to wake you but we all have things to do today."

Chrno yawned widely. "What's this "we" stuff?"

Rosette raised an eyebrow. "WE. As in, myself, Joshua AND you. We need to take care of enrolling you in our school and getting you some clothes." She plopped the tray onto his lap. "Eat. You need to build up your strength."

Chrno leaned down and sniffed it. "It smells good."

Rosette beamed. "Thanks. I'm actually not really much of a cook. I usually end up burning things. Joshua's the Wonder Chef around here. I usually get stuck with clean up duty."

Shoveling a forkful of eggs in his mouth, Chrno regarded her thoughtfully. "You know, I'm not here to go to school and stuff. I'm supposed to grant your Heart's Desire."

"I know I know...but the best way for you to go about doing that is to go places with me. You know, do the whole teenager thing."

Chrno rolled his eyes. "I did the whole "teenager thing" ages ago. I'm WAY past the "teenager thing."

Rosette stared at him. "How old are you anyways? You look younger than me!"

"Well, demons age differently than you humans do. If you take away the hundred years I was in stasis..." He paused thoughtfully as he did the math in his head. "I'm about 84 years old in human years. That equals out to being a teenager to you guys I suppose."

Rosette laughed. "Wow! You could be my Grandpa!"

Chrno actually cracked a smile.

Rosette stood up. "All right...you finish breakfast and then go clean up. There's fresh towels and a washcloth in the bathroom for you along with some of Joshua's stuff for you to wear today. You can just leave the tray outside the door. I'll get it when you're done. You turn on the shower by turning the big knob and pushing in the small one underneath it. Left turn for cold water, right turn for hot."

Chrno nodded. "I understand." He smiled briefly. "Thanks Rosette. For a human...you're not so bad."

Rosette felt her face heat up. "Thanks...I think." She turned and left the room and headed downstairs.

He chuckled to himself as she left. She really wasn't so bad for a human. She was kind and actually seemed to want to take care of him. He shivered involuntarily. He'd certainly served worse...

**_AUTHOR'S NOTES_**:  
_Haha..Chrno's a grump when he wakes up just like me. :-) I absolutely hate getting up in the mornings out of my nice toasty bed! I've also been told that I swear out loud when the alarm clock goes off..lol! I'm always half asleep so I don't remember doing this ever._

_As to Chrno being 84. This is actually canon. My best friend had the greatest good luck to actually meet Daisuke Moriyama and that was one of the questions she asked him. "How old is Chrno?" He told her that minus the fifty years he slept he was around 84 years old. So there you go! Answered by the creator himself!_

_Sorry if this chapter seems to have some trouble flowing. Lately I've only had time to write late at night and I'm not at my best flow-wise.  
I gave a video game referance in here and I'll dedicate the next chapter to the first person who can point it out._


	5. Ch 5 Preparations

**Chapter 5. Preparations**

Rosette went to her room to get dressed. Pulling out a pair of jeans and a pink t-shirt that declared "Boy smell", she put them on quickly and headed downstairs to make out her "To Do" list for the day.  
Passing by the bathroom, she found herself somewhat relieved to hear the water running. Apparently Chrno was indeed capable of figuring out how to work the showers. She wondered just how long it had been since he'd been topside.  
She plopped down on the couch, picked up her purse and pulled out a small notepad and her check book. Skimming her account balance she smiled to herself. Good...she had more than enough to pull off buying some necessities for Chrno and maybe a few things for herself as well. The bills had already been paid for thanks to their aunt and uncle and luckily Rosette was pretty good at budgeting her allowance.  
Joshua was sprawled out in the armchair, his attention fixated on his latest video game addiction.

"Hey Joshua, get dressed."

Joshua's gaze never moved from the screen. "What for?"

She sighed impatiently. "Mall? Remember? We have to pick up some stuff for Chrno."

"You do it...I feel tired today..."

"Liar. You just want to play that stupid game."

Joshua made a sound of indignation. "It's not stupid! It's the latest thing."

Rosette snorted. "It looks exactly the same as the OTHER TWO of the same series."

"Like you would know. You never played any of them."

"Sorry, but first person shooters are boring." She lobbed a pillow at his head. "Now save the game and get your butt in gear!"

Joshua neatly dodged the pillow and paused the game and saved it. "fine fine fine.." He stood up and stretched. "I'll be down in ten."

"Check on Chrno will you? Make sure he didn't drown himself or something."

Joshua headed upstairs and paused outside the bathroom door. The water had stopped running. He knocked on the door lightly. "Hey...you okay in there?"

A muffled "I'll be out in a second."

Joshua snickered. "Don't come out unless you're dressed!"

An exasperated sigh. "I know thaaaat. I'm DEmonic, not MORonic."

Joshua chuckled. "Just making sure dude."

"Dude?" muttered Chrno as he pulled the red t-shirt over his wet head. "What the hell is a "dude" anyways? Picking up the comb he tried dragging it through his long violet hair to no avail, it was hopelessly tangled. Sighing for what felt like the umpteenth time that morning, he stuck the comb in his back pocket and made a mental note to try again when it was drier. He opened the door and welcomed the rush of cool air on his face as he stepped out of the stuffy bathroom.

"Joshua?" called a voice from downstairs

"No...it's me." Chrno called as he walked down.

"Oh hey!" Rosette smiled "How was the shower? Have any problems?"

He shook his head. "No..it was fine.."

Rosette looked at him. "Wow..what happened to your hair?"

Chrno rolled his eyes. "It just needs to dry. It'll be fine."

She frowned at him. "It's a tangled mess! Didn't you use the conditioner?"

"No..."

Rosette clucked her tongue. "Well, you can't go out like that...come here."

Chrno gave her a suspicious look. "What for?"

"I'm going to comb it out for you." She pointed to the footstool in front of her. "Sit"

He grudgingly did so and Rosette rummaged through her purse for her comb. "I can't find my comb..." She glanced down and spied the comb handle sticking up out of Chrno's back pocket. "Ah-ha!" Reaching over, she yanked it out of his back pocket. At feeling her so close to _that_ area, Chrno shot up and promptly fell off the footstool.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled.

Rosette blinked and held up the comb.

"oh..." he blushed.

Rosette smirked. "What? Think I was trying to cop a feel? You wish buddy!"

Chrno glared. "I did not! You just...surprised me that's all."

"Uh-huh. Riiiiiight."

He crossed his arms and looked away.

Rosette chuckled. "Oh don't be that way..come on..sit and I'll comb your hair out."

He reluctantly did so and Rosette reached out and pulled all the strands of hair straight down his back. "I'll try not to pull too hard."

He snickered "I think I can take it."

"All right then, let's tame your mane." Rosette carefully began running the comb through his hair starting at the bottom and working her way up. Surprisingly she wasn't having much difficulty. "You actually have really nice hair" she said. "You just have to take better care of it."

Chrno had closed his eyes. The hair combing actually felt nice. "Maybe I should just cut it off..it hasn't been short since I was small."

Rosette shook her head. "Nah, don't cut it. You can just pull it back. Hey, I know.." She began dividing up his hair into three sections and braiding it. "There we go..it'll stay neat and out of your way this way."

Chrno reached back to touch it. "A braid? Isn't that a little...girly?" He turned around to face her, bangs falling neatly to the sides of his face.

Rosette stared for a second before shaking her head. "Naaah..the way your hair looks in the front makes up for it." She chuckled a little. "Who knew demons worried so much about their appearance?"

He smiled a little. "Demons don't differ from humans much. We can feel the same things humans feel...happiness, sadness, anger,..." he trailed off.

"Love?"

A look of sadness flashed across his face so quickly that had she not been staring directly at him Rosette would have missed it. He swallowed before answering.

"...yeah...and love."

The awkward silence hung in the air and seemed to gather enough presence that you could almost reach out and touch it. Relief came luckily for the two of them in the form of Joshua thundering downstairs.

"Hey, are we leaving?"

Both of them jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Y-yeah...let's go." Rosette bolted up and scooped up her purse. "Ready Chrno?"

He nodded. "Sure."

Joshua opened the door. "I'm driving!"

Rosette sighed "Fiiiiine." She locked the door behind them as they made their way to the car.

"You'll be glad I'm driving Chrno." Joshua was babbling. "Rosette drives like a crazy person!"

"Pfft..see if I ever drive you anywhere again!" she huffed.

"You call that a threat? I think it's more of a _blessing_!

Their good natured banter soon lifted any remaining tension Chrno felt. He even chuckled a little at their antics.

"Have you ever seen a car before?" Joshua asked.

Chrno nodded. "Yeah...it's been a while though. They look entirely differant."

Rosette opened the back drivers side back door and smiled. "Well, you're in for a treat then. Hop in."

Chrno slid onto the seat and looked around. The back was a little smaller than they used to be but not uncomfortably so. He settled back into the seat. "It's nice..."

Rosette sat down in the passenger seat up front and pulled the seatbelt over her chest and clicked it. "Seatbelt!"

Chrno looked over to the side of his seat and noticed a similar device. He pulled it down and mimiced Rosette. "What does this do?"

"It keeps you from flying out the windshield if Rosette gets us into a wreck." Joshua grinned.

"Me?! Accidents can happen to anyone!"

"They just happen to happen to you more than anyone ELSE." Joshua snickered.

This got the banter going back again and continued well onto the drive. Chrno stared out the window watching things whiz by. _"Things sure have changed..." _he thought to himself. _"I could be here a while so I guess I'd better try my best to fit in." _Although he'd never admit it out loud Chrno missed living topside. Things were just so much more...peaceful. "_Oh well, it's not like I'll ever let THEM know that."_ He smiled softly to himself. _"Besides, it's kind of fun playing the big bad demon."_

_Author's Notes:  
Hehe..told you Chrno's really a big old softie at heart._

_Sorry it's taking so long for the story to pick up! I've just always wanted to see the more simple and day to day interactions between Rosette and Chrno. Like how his hair is always braided...I'm convinced Rosette does it for him yet you never see it in the series much except when she's a kid. So...indulge me? I've actually got a lot of ideas and I keep a seperate little .txt document on my desktop just for scribbling down random ideas so I don't lose them..lol I'll probably end up writing twice this month since I felt like this chapter could have gone on longer._

_No one guessed the video game referance from last chapter. It was the mention of the Wonder Chef from "Tales of Symphonia" There's another one in this chapter. First one to guess what Joshua was playing wins the next chapter dedicated to them!_


	6. Ch 6: Mall Crawl

Chapter 6: Shopping and other Pains

After a relatively safe arrival (only missing one stop sign) Joshua pulled into a parking space in front of the mall and sang out "Weee're heeeeeeeeere!"

Chrno stared out the window to look at the enormous building before him. "So this is the marketplace?"

Joshua chuckled. "Well, I guess you could call it that. They're referred to as malls nowadays."

"Mauls? as in...disembowelment and decapitation?"

Rosette crinkled her nose and squealed "ew!" and Joshua laughed out loud. "No, M-A-L-L-S. Malls as in overpriced merchandise marketed towards the masses."

"Well, only if you shop at Abercrombie or Hollisters." Rosette countered.

Joshua snorted "Like your precious Hot Topic is any cheaper."

"At least they have more creative looking stuff."

Chrno just sighed to himself. "Can we get on with this instead of arguing about it?"

Both siblings had momentarily forgotten he was even there apparently.

"Sorry Chrno...of course we can go in..."said Rosette. "Let's go!"

The trio approached the building and the automatic doors opened with a WHOOSH! that made Chrno jump.  
Despite being so old Chrno found himself staring slack jawed. The place was HUGE and a complete assault to the senses. There were waves of people milling about, tons of differant smells wafting from one corner and various loud pounding sounds which Chrno guessed passed for music nowadays.

"C'mon Chrno! Let's get you some clothes!" Rosette grabbed his hand and started dragging him in one direction.

Joshua clapped Chrno on the shoulder. "Good luck man. I'm going to Game Stop."

Chrnos eyes widened a bit. "You're leaving me alone with her?"

Rosette glared. "Hey! What's wrong with me?!"

"N-nothing! I just..."

"Hmpf! Let's just get going!" Rosette dropped his hand and instead began shoving Chrno in the direction of the clothing stores as Joshua cheerfully waved good bye.

A-Seemingly-Eternity-Later:

"Are we done YET?" Chrno complained as he followed Rosette dragging several shopping bags behind him. "I'm tiiiiired."

Rosette cocked an eyebrow. "You know, for a demon you're awfully whiney. Even Joshua doesn't get this grumpy."

Chrno glared. "I told you...I'm not as powerful in this form. I can't help it!"

Rosette began heading in the direction of the food court. "Oh all right...let's get something to eat and we can sit down for a while then."

They found an empty table and Chrno gratefully sat down the heavy shopping bags and plopped in a chair. "Ugh...so tired.."

Rosette started feeling a bit bad. She didn't mean to have worn him out. She just wanted him to experiance some of the things he'd missed out on since the last time he'd been topside. "Wait here...I'll get us something to eat okay?"

Chrno nodded. "all right...I'll be here."

Rosette headed over to the food stands and finally decided on just getting pizza slices and sodas. As she waited in line she turned and stared at Chrno.  
Aside from the hair and eye color he looked like any other teenager at the mall. It was hard for her to even think of him as a demon. He tried to talk tough but Rosette could tell his heart wasn't really in it. From everything she'd ever read she'd always imagined demons to be brash and awe inspiring. Chrno seemed...quiet and introverted. Rosette found herself really wanting to know more about him. Picking up her order and putting it on a tray she headed back.

Chrno meanwhile was sitting and taking in the scenery. Truth be told, he wasn't having that bad of a time. It was nice of Rosette to buy him a couple of outfits to wear. He was actually starting to feel bad about complaining so much. It had been a while since he'd had human interaction and he felt a bit awkward sometimes which usually caused him to say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Rosette finally came back and sat down the try with the slices of pizza and sodas. "Your lunch sir."

Chrno smiled faintly. "Thanks...um, look..I'm sorry for being a pain. I don't mean to come off as ungrateful or anything..because I am. You know,  
grateful and all."

Rosette waved her hand in dismissal. "No, it's okay. And I'm sorry for dragging you along and making you tired. Of all people I should know better."

Chrno nodded. "It's all right. We'll just say that each of us learned something today then. Sound fair?"

"That works for me."

"Good, then it's settled. Now...what did you bring back?"

Rosette put his plate in front of him. "Pizza! The dietary staple of teenagers everywhere. I wasn't sure what you'd like so I just got you a plain cheese."

Chrno leaned in and smelled it. "Smells good. I haven't had this before.." He peered into the cup. "Or whatever this is."

Rosette smiled. "Just try it. If you don't like it I'll finish it off."

Chrno picked up the pizza and took a bite and was relieved to find out that it was good. "This is great! and it comes with other stuff on it?"

Rosette nodded. "Yup! You can get almost anything on a pizza nowadays."

He picked up the cup and took a small sip and looked surprised. "It fizzes!"

"heh..yeah..it's soda. It's carbonated to make little bubbles"

Chrno took a bigger drink. "It's pretty interesting..."

"It comes in all kinds of flavors too."

"Neat!"

Rosette sat and smiled a little to herself. It was fun watching him. The amazement and wonder on his face combined with his youthful appearance made him downright cute.  
Chrno looked up to see her staring at him with a little smile on her face. "What"  
Rosette chuckled. "Nothing. It's just kinda nice to see someone get so excited over small things." She cupped her chin in her hands. "People always take the little things for granted you know? It's nice to see someone that seems to appreciate them." She shook her head a little. "Sorry..that sounded kinda silly..."

Chrno gave a small smile. "No...it didn't. I used to know someone that used to say something similar. Only it went more like "Life isn't measured by the breaths we take but the moments that take our breath away"  
"Wow" said Rosette softly. "That's really beautiful...your friend must have been really smart"  
Chrno smiled sadly. "Yeah..."

They both sat in awkward silence for a few moments before Rosette cleared her throat a little. "I'm going to go to the restroom. Be right back"  
Chrno nodded. "I'll just be right here."

Rosette got up and headed off to the restroom. "He looked so sad..." she thought to herself. "I wonder what happened to his friend..." She knew it would be impolite to ask. Maybe he'd tell her when they got to know each other a little better.

Chrno watched Rosette go. Up until this point he'd been ready to dismiss her as just a regular silly girl but that moment of profound thought from her struck him like an arrow. The last time he'd been topside he'd had precious little time to spend but the time he did... He sighed. _"I'm not going to think about that."_ he thought to himself. _"That's done and over with...time to move on and not dwell on the past. I have a wish to help come true."_

He stirred the soda with the straw and stared absently into space wondering just how to do said wish.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Sorry for not writing any sooner! I feel bad leaving people hanging especially after I thought I'd be able to write more. My apologies!

0ExTwenty was the first to guess right. It was Halo 3. So this chapter is for you! Sadly I share Rosette's disdain for First Person Shooters but all my friends were going nuts over it at the moment so the only thing I can do is wait it out I suppose!

Sorry if any of you guys are fans of Abercrombie/Hollisters. I just think they're overpriced for the quality of goods they are. (I sew so I can tell these things!) And the music is always way too loud and I find the stores dark and smelly. -- Hot Topic is no better price-wise but their t-shirts make me giggle. And no, Rosette is NOT a punk/goth in this story. She's more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. Joshua is pretty much the same way, though I can totally see him wearing a button up once in a while.

Responses to previous notes:  
Way to go to everyone who guessed right on Halo 3!  
0ExTwenty: Yes, accidents ARE expensive! I recently got in one and had a nice little 110 fine to pay. (no worries, I'm okay though)  
MisoGirl: Well, physically no, he's not big. "big bad demon" was just an expression not to be taken literally. fornwalt: Glad I'm succeeding at making you laugh! JC: good guess and the Silent Hill series is a favorite of mine! I love survival horror and puzzle games!


End file.
